You may have heard the “swagger is back” for Miami football this season but let’s not let things go to the seventh floor just yet. Yes, Miami is undefeated (so is Clemson), they appeared to completely own Georgia Tech, and they have a new offensive coordinator (novel concept) who has clearly got the offense clicking… but is this finally the mature product of coach Randy Shannon (13-13 career as head coach) or something else.

We will find out if the U is for real this Saturday when #11 Virginia Tech hosts a leap frogging #9 Miami in front of a home crowd and ESPN Gameday some Kroger sponsored tailgate.

Some things to consider for the game:

1. Despite Virginia Tech’s appearance of stout defense this season, they have allowed 200+ yards twice already this season, something you can’t say about Foster’s handiwork for the past three years up to this season and Miami has been running the ball very effectively thus far in 2009. The most yardage is gained in first down plays - look for Tech to adjust this on Saturday or suffer again in the total rush yards allowed column.

2. Two starting defensive lineman for Miami will be incarcerated out for the game. For a young team like Miami this can be a significant change to a formula that has been trying to click for a few seasons now. We need to exploit this as much as we can and hope this helps our offense make improvements this week. Look for big runs through a broken down Miami line.

3.  Bud Foster said Miami’s offense has more overall speed than Alabama and Nebraska. Shit. They lead the conference in total offense. Double shit. We need to again rely on Bud Foster and our defense by shutting down the opponent because we have no idea what to expect from the O. Same old triple shit.

4. In the Washington Post on Tuesday, Stinespring was quoted as saying “I don’t think we played as well” about the Nebraska game and that the Hokies did not “play very well for whatsoever reason” — he later had the whole team watch tape to try and identify the problem. WHAT STINESPRING!? You don’t even have a CLUE what is wrong with the offense? Thats your f’ing job! “Whatsoever reason” is not even close to acceptable. Expect him to learn NOTHING from last week as a result. Let’s hope the team has been passing notes to one another during movie time.

We can consider all these things and many more, but in the end Tech is an underdog (2.5 - 3 points) according to people who get paid to predict the outcome of college football games. This is the kind of game in which Tech likes to shine at home and if we get a couple quick stops of their defense we may be able to rip the young swagger out from underneath the Canes. I see a need for some big turnovers to overcome Stinespring’s shortcomings, nothing new there, but also a steady control of the clock. Even if our offense isn’t productive we need to avoid fast 3-and-out possessions that will force our D back on the field against a speedy Miami offense.

Remember, this is our ACC opener and Miami already has a 2 game lead on us in the Coastal division. We need this game to stay relevant not only for the national picture but also for our conference play.

“If them hoes only knew… they are gunna get mutted by our whole damn crew.” Get loud Lane.

Score Prediction: Virginia Tech 28, Miami 14